Hoyer Discusses Bipartisan Agreement to Open Government and Ensure America Pays Its Bills on MSNBC's "The Ed Show"

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed thebipartisan agreement to end the government shutdown and ensure America pays its bills on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" this evening. Below are excerpts and a link to the video.

“Well, I think we're going to do the right thing. We're certainly not doing the perfect thing but we're doing the right thing and it's never the wrong time to do that. I'm glad that we have come to this agreement. The country is the loser in this [shutdown] so far. Hundreds of thousands of people laid off, millions of people lost services from their government. And the reputation of the United States of America has been tarnished. We'll get it back. We're a great country, we're going to confront these [problems]. But we cannot continue this government by crisis and this government by hostage-taking. It will not be a sustainable policy for Republicans to follow.”

“Look, I think the American people have made it very clear that they want to see responsible government pursued. They don't want to see their government shut down. They don't want to see the government of the United States not pay its bills on time. They thought this was a bad strategy by the Republicans, and they have sent that message to them. And I am very hopeful that we will not repeat it. Because to repeat it will damage our country and its people.”

“The real issue is paying our bills. Paying our bills to educate our kids, to keep our veterans in the kind of benefits that they deserved and earned, to keep Social Security going. The issue is about paying America's bills. Not raising taxes, but paying our bills, and deciding what we want to do on a rational basis to make sure that American families, American children, American seniors, American veterans, have the kind of quality of life that we want them to have in this country.”

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